It's a warm, early fall afternoon and the football team is on the field practicing. Some parents and a few other spectators sit in the bleachers watching the play. The sky to the southwest is darkening and a warm breeze has picked up. The rumble of thunder can be heard in the distance. Keeping a watchful eye to the sky, the coach figures he can get through most of the practice before the rain comes. There is a big game on Saturday and only one practice left. He can't afford to let up now.
The practice continues, the thunder gets louder and the sky a bit darker. A cool, gusty wind now blows in from the southwest, but still no rain. A parent walks over to the coach and asks about the chance that practice will be called early. The coach smiles and says, "I've been watching that storm and it appears to be passing north of us now. " The sky begins to lighten to the southwest and a couple sun rays beam down from beneath the towering clouds. Suddenly, a white streak hits the uprights in the end zone with a deafening roar. Players, near that end of the field, tumble to the ground.
There is confusion. What happened? Where did the lightning come from? The storm was at least 5 miles away and none of the previous strokes were anywhere near the school. It seemed to just come out of the blue! Although the story above is made up, in 1998, two football players were taken to the hospital after lightning struck their practice field. Fortunately neither one was killed. Every year lightning hits ball fields during little league, soccer games and other outdoor events. Many games are not called until the rain begins, and yet it is not the rain that is dangerous. Ball fields provide a lot of potential lightning targets, such as poles, metal fences, and metal bleachers. The fields themselves are wide open areas where players often are the tallest objects around.
Lightning is the most common thunderstorm threat. Nationally, lightning kills an average of 85 people and injures 250 each year. This number may not seem high, yet when you look at the individual cases, most could have been prevented. The basic rule of thumb is "If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck!" Thunderstorms extend 5 to 10 miles high into the atmosphere. Winds aloft can blow the upper portion (anvil) of the storm many miles downstream. Lightning can come out of the side or anvil of the storm striking the ground 10 to 15 miles away from the rain portion of the cloud.
Heavy warm rains had been falling for nearly two days on low elevation snow pack across Western Idaho around the first of the year. The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Watch around noon on the first day and upgraded to a Flash Flood Warning at 3 PM. Children loaded onto buses at "Yourtown" Elementary School as they normally do at the end of each day. With a full load of children, Fred started the bus and pulled out.
Fred had been driving this route for more than five years and had never encountered any flood problems. He didn't expect any today. About halfway through his route, he turned onto Dark Hollow Road. The road crosses a small stream and this afternoon, the stream was out of its banks and flowing across the road. Fred slowed the bus as he approached the water. If he turned around, it would take him an extra hour to get the remaining children home. The water looked less than a foot deep. Certainly, the bus could safely cross that. He decided to move forward.
The bus moved easily through the water, but as it approached the bridge, the front tires fell into a hole. With the water over the road, Fred hadn't seen that the pavement had been undermined. He attempted to back out, but the bus wouldn't budge. What was worse, the water was continuing to rise and was now more than a foot and a half above the road! Fred knew that he better act fast. There still were eleven children on the bus!
About fifty yards away was higher ground, a hillside. They would head there. The current was picking up. He would have to carry the smaller ones. His third and last trip from the bus to the hill was a hard one. In just ten minutes, the water had risen to waist deep and he could barely keep his footing. Grabbing onto trees and bushes along the way, he pulled himself and the last child to the hillside and out of the water. He was exhausted. He wouldn't have made it if he had to carry one more. As he turned around to look back at the bus, the bus overturned and washed into the raging waters.
Events like this do occur. Take for instance, the extensive flooding that occurred on December 31, 1996 and January 1, 1997 when heavy rain did fall on low elevation snow. The combination of the heavy rain and melting snow caused numerous mud slides and caused many creeks and streams to exceed their banks across the rugged terrain of the Idaho Panhandle. Many roads, bridges, and railroads were washed out along with several homes.
Floods and flash floods occur every year in Idaho and eastern Washington. Nationally, it is the number one sudden weather-related killer, averaging 150 deaths per year. Half of these deaths occur in automobiles. NEVER ENTER FLOODED WATERS! If caught in rising water, abandon your vehicle immediately and move to higher ground. Fred and the children were lucky. He acted quickly and got them to safety, but he never should have attempted to cross the flooded area to begin with.
It is February 14, a special Valentines Day. School is letting out and the girls and boys basketball teams are practicing for the upcoming tournaments. At 350 PM, the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning and several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings for a line of thunderstorms moving through the area. In less than an hour the storms have passed moving at speeds over 55 mph.
In the storms wake, five tornadoes touched down as well as strong downburst winds in excess of 90 mph and hail. Damage is reported at many locations including roof damage at a High School. Mobile homes were picked up by the twister and shredded. Irrigation systems are toppled. In all, over 4 million dollars worth of damage occurred from these storms.
If you were at one of the schools in the path of these storms, what action would you have taken? Although tornadoes are not that common in Inland, strong downburst winds occur quite frequently. Do your schools know what to do when they see a storm approaching?
It is April 3, and your baseball team is headed for what they believe is an afternoon game. However, a cold front passed by the area at 11 am, and the rain showers have turned to sleet and snow. The wind picks up just as the bus nears the stadium. The wind and cold has caused a layer of ice to form on the roads and snow is starting to drift. Should the bus return? This event occurred in 1998 when a bus loaded with ball players slid off the road west of Burley Idaho injuring nearly a dozen students. Could you have known that the storm was approaching and canceled the event before leaving?
Flash floods, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes occur with rapid onset and perhaps, with little or no warning. Decisions must be made fast and actions taken immediately. One cannot wait for the storms to strike to plan what must be done to save lives. Get prepared now and develop an emergency action plan for your school.
Schools should also consider what to do when winter storms, excessive cold, or excessive heat is expected to affect the school district. This type of weather, however, is usually predicted at least a day in advance, allowing more time to make decisions about the operations of the school. Developing and designing a severe weather emergency action plan follows on the next page.
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